Showing papers by "Brett Smith published in 2011"

Residential location and transit-oriented development in a new rail corridor

Abstract: The relationship of form, use, and density in urban development and their influence on human behavior and travel is a key element of many land use and transport policies. Prior research indicates high-density urban development leads to decreased travel and thus sustainable mobility; however, personal attitudes seem to have greater effect on mobility than does the urban form. This research evaluates how households consider transit-oriented development (TOD) characteristics in their location decisions with regard to new Mandurah railway line stations opened in December 2007 in Perth, Western Australia. The results indicate that the choice of residence reflects neighborhood and housing attributes, with significant heterogeneity in the populations of the three precincts in terms of their valuation of various housing characteristics, proximity to urban facilities, and transport. There is also significant variation in households’ attitudes to natural and artificial environments. A better understanding of the complex relationships among environment, travel, socio-demographic characteristics, and household attitudes can help transport planners leverage the benefits of TOD and improve the quality of urban design and community life.

Telling a (Good?) Counterstory of Aging: Natural Bodybuilding Meets the Narrative of Decline

Abstract: Objectives. In Western society, the narrative of decline dominates the aging process. We know very little about the complexities of how people resist this narrative. The purpose of this article is to understand how a group of mature natural bodybuilders resisted the narrative of decline. Methods. In-depth life story interviews were conducted with 13 natural bodybuilders aged between 50 and 73 years. Verbatim transcripts were produced and the data analyzed using a structural narrative analysis. A dialogical analysis was also utilized. Results. The participants’ experiences did not fit with stereotypical assumptions about decline and deterioration in older age. They all told counterstories to “natural” aging, yet what differed was how the participants’ counterstories resisted the narrative of decline and the level of resistance that they provided. Discussion. We advance knowledge in the fields of aging and narrative inquiry by revealing the multidimensionality of resistance. We demonstrated how participants storied resistance in different ways and the important implications this had for the way aging was understood and acted upon—by themselves and potentially by others. In addition to advancing theoretical knowledge, in this article, we also significantly contribute to understandings of the potential of narrative for changing human lives and behavior across the life course in more positive and nuanced ways.

In Indigenous Words: Exploring Vignettes as a Narrative Strategy for Presenting the Research Voices of Aboriginal Community Members

Abstract: Recently, awareness within academia has grown regarding the incompatibilities of mainstream research with indigenous cultures as well as the historical injustices that have accrued through colonizing practices. Accordingly, support for alternative (non-Westernized) research approaches has been increasing. Participatory action research (PAR) and cultural praxis reflect two approaches where researchers advocate for a movement toward cultural inclusivity. Both approaches have been integrated within the current work amongst mainstream academics and Aboriginal community members in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The purpose of the current project was to empower Aboriginal coresearchers to share their voices regarding research, grounded within their lived experiences and the surrounding cultural context. Vignettes were developed as a method for presenting each Aboriginal coresearcher’s story in their “own words.” In this article, vignettes are explored as a potential method for centralizing indigenous voices and ...

Exploring multiple responses to a chaos narrative.

Abstract: Narratives do things. This performative aspect of narrative includes calling on people for a response. This article explores the responses we have witnessed to a chaos narrative told to us by a disabled man that we then shared with different audiences over time. The following four types of response were identified: depression-therapy restitution stories; breakthrough restitution stories; social model stories; and solace stories. Each kind of response is focused on in detail, and their potentials and limitations are considered. The article does not promote one response over another, or seek the last word on the four responses, as the intention is to generate dialogue rather than to finalize. Future possibilities regarding narrative research and responding to stories are also considered.

Inhabiting different bodies over time: narrative and pedagogical challenges

Abstract: Over the life course our ‘real’ bodies change and we come to inhabit them and know them and ourselves in different ways. Of course, just how we learn to inhabit different bodies in the flesh and give meaning to them over time is a complex relational process that has consequences for our being in the world. Central to this process is the role of narrative. Culture provides people with a menu of narrative forms and content from which they selectively draw in an effort to line up their lived experience with the kinds of stories available to organize and express it to themselves and others. This narrative menu operates as a key resource in linking the sensorial materiality of the body to wider social structures that shape the meaning making process at the individual and group level. As such, narrative resources can be both enabling and constraining when the individual confronts bodily change. In this article, we explore the ways in which narratives as an embodied act infuse the flesh and help give meaning to ...

Sporting autobiographies of illness and the role of metaphor

Abstract: This article utilizes data provided by 12 published autobiographies to explore the role of metaphor in shaping the illness experience of elite athletes. First, a case is made for the use of published autobiographies as a resource in sports-related studies for examining vocabularies of self, and the centrality of metaphor in the performance of significant personal and social narrative work is highlighted. Following this, the selected autobiographies are analysed to reveal the manner in which three narrative types frame the use of specific metaphors, and attention is given to their impact on the ways in which illness is described and understood by elite athletes and others. Finally, the limitations and possibilities of the autobiographical stories are considered along with the need for future research in this area.

La investigación narrativa en la educación física y el deporte: qué es y para qué sirve

Abstract: La creciente atencion despertada por la investigacion narrativa en las ciencias sociales ha tenido poco eco en la educacion fisica y las ciencias del deporte. En este articulo, tratamos de compensar esta situacion indagando en el signi- Þ cado de este tipo de investigacion y su utilidad para nuestro campo. Con el Þ n de comprender esta nueva y compleja forma de investigacion, primero deÞ nimos que es �narrativa�. A continuacion, presentamos los supuestos basicos y las caracteristicas esenciales de la investigacion narrativa. Por ultimo, planteamos algunas razones por las que puede resultar beneÞ cioso el estudio de las narrativas en ambitos especiÞ cos de la educacion fisica y el deporte. En conclusion, consideramos que la investigacion narrativa puede resultar un instrumento util, aunque problematico, para la teorizacion e investigacion en nuestro campo. No obstante, llamamos la atencion sobre el riesgo de hacer investigacion narrativa simplemente porque es algo nuevo o que esta de moda. Los investigadores y profesionales que deseamos hacer investigacion narrativa debemos informarnos acerca de sus pros y sus contras, asi como realizar elecciones responsables y juiciosas sobre por que y cuando hacerla

The World of Physical Culture in Sport and Exercise: Visual Methods for Qualitative Research

Abstract: Foreword Sarah Pink 1. Seeing the world of physical culture: the potential of visual methods for qualitative research in sport and exercise Cassandra Phoenix 2. Fell running in post-sport territories Michael Atkinson 3. Talking T-shirts: a visual exploration of youth material culture Clive C. Pope 4. Setting the scene: hailing women into a running identity Meridith Griffin 5. Power and focus: self-representation of female college athletes Vikki Krane, Sally R. Ross, Montana Miller, Julie L. Rowse, Kristy Ganoe, Jaclyn A. Andrzejczyk and Cathryn B. Lucas 6. Embodying understanding: drawing as research in sport and exercise Hannah M. Gravestock 7. 'What it was in my eyes': picturing youths' embodiment in 'real' spaces Laura Azzarito and Jennifer Sterling 8. The influence of marianismo beliefs on physical activity of mid-life immigrant Latinas: a Photovoice study Karen T. D'Alonzo and Manoj Sharma 9. Renewal, strength and commitment to self and others: older women's reflections of the benefits of exercise using Photovoice Joanie Sims-Gould, Laura Hurd Clarke, Maureen C. Ashe, John Naslund and Teresa Liu-Ambrose 10. Shooting a diary, not just a hoop: using video diaries to explore the embodied everyday contexts of a university basketball team Jim Cherrington and Beccy Watson 11. Seeing is believing: telling the 'inside' story of a beginning masters athlete through film Mary Ann Kluge, Bevan C. Grant, Lorraine Friend and Linda Glick

Optimal discrete choice experimental designs using genetic algorithms

Abstract: Discrete choice modelling is one of the main tools used in transport research and well-designed experiments are central to obtaining a richer understanding of individuals’ decision processes. Traditionally, designs considered principles of orthogonality, balance and no-dominance, but those designs were not necessarily efficient. In order to extract the maximum information from the data with fewer resources, recent designs minimise certain properties of the asymptotic variance-covariance (AVC) matrix. The design principle is to obtain the most reliable parameter estimates for a predefined error structure (Rose and Bliemer 2005a,b, 2009; Bliemer et al. 2009a). The efficient design of stated preference surveys relies on prior parameter estimates typically sourced from pilot studies. This paper investigates the use of hedonic regressions on readily available market data as a source of prior estimates. Secondly, the efficient design is a result of a search within a large space of potential designs. Thus, the second aim of this paper is to present the use of genetic algorithms to aid in this search.

A investigação narrativa em educação física e esporte: que é e qual a sua utilidade

Abstract: Narrative inquiry is a burgeoning form of research in social sciences that has received little attention in physical education and sport sciences. In this article, we seek to balance this situation by offering an understanding of what narrative inquiry can be and can offer to our field. In order to gain some theoretical purchase on a difficult field, we first define narrative. Next, a distillation of guiding assumptions and characteristics are offered. Finally, some reasons as to why narratives may be of benefit for the field of physical education and sport. In conclusion, we consider narrative inquiry as a useful, although problematic, way of theorizing and doing research in the domains of physical education, sport and exercise sciences. It should not, however, be taken up or practiced simply because it is new or fashionable. Informed, principled, and responsible choices must be made by researchers and applied professionals about why and when they might engage with narrative inquiry should they wish to do so.

Validating Stated Preference Surveys through the Use of Hedonic Regression Models with an Application to Housing Prices around Transit Oriented Developments

Abstract: This paper describes a survey of factors that affects residual relocation choices for families who had recently moved onto the Mandurah Railway corridor in Perth, Western Australia. This survey was undertaken using stated preference methods. While stated preference models are appropriate tools for valuating attributes of choice, there remains the concern of realism in an experimentally controlled environment. This paper validates stated preference models using hedonic pricing regressions based on observed real estate prices for three Perth-Mandurah Railway precincts. The results of the regressions are compared to those of the discrete choice models by examining the levels of significance of housing or neighborhood characteristics in each modeling paradigm, as well as a comparison of the closeness of the valuations for these characteristics. The findings indicate that factors that affect residential location are consistent whether observed by experimental data or by revealed choices in the market. From a planning perspective, the results indicate that not only housing features, but also neighborhood characteristics such as proximity to public transport hubs or local schools, affect residential property values.